


The Dog's Bite

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Briefly Mentioned Rape Scene, Child Abuse, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Multiple, Physical Abuse, Pre-Hogwarts Third Year, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-12
Updated: 2016-02-12
Packaged: 2018-05-20 00:05:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5985640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is often said that "The dog's bark is worse than it's bite", a common proverb among both wizarding and muggle kind. James and Sirius however, are about to find out that sometimes the dog's bites are just as threatening as his bark when they discover the Snape residence.</p><p>After stumbling across very "questionable" behavior, James and Sirius broker a truce with Lily Evans in order to try and understand the situation further. When they come to realize the full extent of the situation they band together in hopes of helping Severus and Eileen Snape out of potentially lethal arrangement.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Dog's Bite

"Are you sure, it's this way Prongs?" Sirius questioned, scanning around at the ramshackle box houses, his nose wrinkling at the site.

"Don't worry, Padfoot." James smiled, reassuringly, looking up from the instruction on his piece of parchment. "We follow the road till the end of Spinners End, take a left onto Lime Tree Road and take a right onto the next street and we're there."

"Well as long as you're sure, these houses are creeping me out." Sirius admitted, placing his hands in his pockets for reassurance as he didn't doubt that being mugged could be a possibility in such a shabby neighborhood. His attention was rudely pulled away by the sound of crockery smashing, causing both himself and James to jump; though if you ever asked them they would strongly deny it. The smashing sound was quickly followed by a fountain of apologize and the though the voice trembled audibly, it still sounded awfully familiar. So, curiosity being one of the curses of being a Gryffindor and checking nobody was around, they crept up and; peered in the window.

Knelt on the ground, hastily picking up pieces of broken plate; James recognized the boy's ill fitting clothes and slim frame; not to mention the greasy black hair. "Really Severus, I find it outstanding how incompetent you can be at the simplest of tasks." Came a harsh and mocking, monotone voice.

"I'm sorry, father." The teenager apologized, obviously distressed by what had happened which caused Sirius and James to share an equally confused eyebrow. They had only known Snape for two years but he had never once shown any real kind of distress when it came to the pranks they had pulled on him. Every once in a while he would react to a prank but it was usually in anger or disgust, so seeing him in such a nervous state was so alien to what they were used to. 

Gathering up the last of the larger fragments of the plate, Severus carried them to the kitchen, were he deposited them in the bin. Picking up the dustpan and brush, he headed back to the living/dining room. Kneeling back down on the hard wooden floor, he began to sweep up the smaller pieces into the dust pan. "I don't see why I bother buying nice things for this family with my well earned money, for you to go and drop them." His father reprimanded further, watching Severus' actions from his seat at the dining table. "And make sure you clean up all the shard this time. Last time you dropped something, I ended up cutting my foot open."

"Yes, father." Severus bleated, dutifully. "I truly am sorry, sir."

A hand then grasped his chin, bringing his face round to met his father's dark eyes. ""Sorry"s, wont buy a new plate will they?" Tobias Snape, leered down at him, something like disappointment etched onto his facial features. Severus felt every bit as shameful as his father made him out to be and with a disheartened "No, sir." he went back to work. "I swear, you're just as clumsy as that mother of yours. Speaking of your mother." Pushing back his sleeve, he appeared to be examining the time before continuing. "She's almost an hour late home." He deduced then getting up out of his seat, he went towards the window.

"We've got to hide." Sirius whispered, looking around for cover. While James, quickly pulled off his backpack and rummaging inside; he found his invisibility cloak, throwing it over both of them just as a face appeared at the window. In all but age and slightly more definition to his face, Snape's father shared his son's facial features, down to the larger than usual nose and deep black eyes. But instead of shoulder length black hair, he had smartly cropped, brown hair. The man stood watching out the window for a moment longer before dropping the curtain back into it's original position; returning to the table.

"I have to leave for work in forty minutes and I can't leave you here on you own, unsupervised." Tobias grumbled, irritability spat across each word. "I hate having to deal with people who are late. And if I'm late because of her then I'm not punctual and, if I'm not punctual, it's a black mark on my record."

"I can take care of myself, if you need to leave for work. I'll be okay until mother gets home." Severus offered up but quickly wished he hadn't said anything as his father turned to face him, a dark expression on his face that Severus knew all to well. Before he had chance to leave the room, his father's firm hand wrapped tightly around his wrist, making Severus wince at the pain.

"You are not to be left by yourself, you are my responsibility." Tobias growled, dangerously is Severus' ear. "Is that understood?" 

"Yes, father." Severus whimpered, fearing his wrist would break if anymore pressure was placed on it. "Sorry, sir." He breathed a sigh of relief as he was released and allowed to bin the plate shards.

"You take it from me, Severus." His father started, returning to peer out the window. "Your developing a nasty attitude that'll get you into trouble. Just remember to keep you head down and that damn mouth of yours quiet."

"Yes, father." Severus nodded.

"It's about bloody time!" Snape's father bellowed, yanking the front door open with such force that Sirius thought it would come away from it's hinges. "Where the hell have you been?!" Turning their heads, James and Sirius watched as a dark haired women in black trouser and a red tabard came running up, she looked completely exhausted as if she had run a marathon. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She panted as she made it to the door. "The bus I usually get didn't arrive today, I had to wait for the next one."

"Just hurry up and get inside before the neighbors see you." Tobias hissed, looking around to make sure no one was watching and allowing his wife into the house; closing the door behind her. "Thanks to you and your lateness, I don't have any time to myself, to relax because I have to go and get ready for work." Leaving Severus and his mother downstairs, he marched off to change into his work uniform.

"He seemed more highly strung than usual." Eileen observed while she undid the poppers on her tabard before pulling it off, over her head. "Did something happen?"

"I-I broke a plate." Severus admitted, rubbing his upper arm.

"Severus." His mother groaned.

"I didn't mean to." The teen protested, feeling much braver around his mother.

"I know you didn't, sweetheart." She sighed, placing her palms together as if she was praying for patients. "Just try to be more careful next time. Your father has a very stressful job and he doesn't need us making it harder for him." James cringed at her phrasing, feeling very uncomfortable with what he had briefly witnessed.

"We should leave now." Sirius proposed, breaking James out of his train of thought. "Evans will be wondering where we've gotten to."

"Yeah, we should leave." James then led Sirius into a nearby ally and making sure nobody could see them; removed his cloak and stuffing it back into his backpack they headed off in search of the Evans household.


End file.
